The time period of all the (planned) events in the Æthrenet world is, well, in the near future. I refuse to give actual years because, as we all know, us creative types tend to move faster than technology does, and in different directions. And god knows how long I'll be working on this - I'm far too lazy to do retcons over something as stupid as dates.

The politics of this world are pretty much the same as ours = America is still a dominant power poking its nose into other peoples' businesses, Japan is still producing cartoons and comics than the western world eats up and acts stupid over (really, I couldn't give up a chance to mock the otaku). And Canada continues to cling onto Quebec and thus it's position as the second largest country in the world. Irrelevant, maybe, but our size is one of the few things we've got goin' for us. Also, Canada's level of tech is still far, far lower than the States.

However, that really doesn't affect the story at all, since most of it takes place in the Æthrenet itself. If you haven't figured it out yet, the Æthrenet is basically a VR version of the Internet... which makes this universe a satire of the Interwebs, So it's not all going to be serious... or PG. The Æthrenet has been around for roughly twenty years, so while the younger generation is having a blast, their parents and teachers are worrying about why they no longer do any of their research on the Internet and fearing for the Safety Of Our Children.

A wireless version of the Æthrenet has been around for roughly half a decade and, despite the fact that it is considered very dangerous, is beginning to become the dominant way of logging in